Railroad-frog



Patented Mar. 4, 1884.

6 0 mm D M I A: J L 6 L 4 m w M I 0 0 m N mum.

JOHN F. PENROD, OF DERBY, \VESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIALRAILROAD-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,664, dated March 4,1884. Application filed September 15, 1883. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. PENRoD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Derry township, in the county of Westmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad- Frogs; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railway-crossings, and has forits object to provide devices whereby to obviate the necessity of theordinary frog commonly used in connection with railway-switches.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of a railroadconstructed according to my invention. Fig. Z-is a detached plan view ofthe portion in the region of the movable rails and Figs. 3 and 4 aredetail perspective views of the adjacent portions of the movable rails,all of which will be described.

I have shown the railway formed on a suitable base-support, A. The fixedrails B B form a continuous track, at one end of which I construct theswitch-section O, composed of rails o 0, having one end pivoted at c,and their opposite ends movable into line with the fixed rails B B, orwith the rails D D, arranged as clearly shown. The rail D begins closeto the rail B, and extends thence at an angle toward the rail B, andterminates at a point about midway the rails B B, as will be seen. Themovable rail E is pivoted at one end on the base, close to the end ofthe rail D, and its opposite end is movable to and from the rail B, andhas its under side next the said rail B cut away or formed with themortise E, which fits the tread of the rail B when the rail E is movedthereon, as will be described. The rail F is arranged on the oppositeside of rail B from rail E, and its end next the mortised end of saidrail E is provided with a mortise, F, corresponding to that in the railE, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The opposite end of rail F is pivoted onthe base, and the, said dotted lines, Fig. l, the rails E F will form aM continuation of said rail D. The rails E F are inclined up slightlyfrom theirpivoted to their mortised ends, so that the treads of saidends,

when moved up to the rail B,will extend over the tread of said rail Band provide a safe passage for the wheels thereover. In order to operatethe movable rails, I provide the T- shaped lever G, pivoted on asuitable support, and having the ends of its arms G connected by rods gg with respectively the rail E and the rail F, so that as the said leveris rocked on its pivot it will force the said rails into line and acrossthe rail B,.or apart, as will be seen from the drawings. An L-shapedlever, H, is pivoted on the base opposite the moving end of the section0, and is connected with said section by rod h, the rails c c of saidsections being connected together at their moving ends by means of rod0". The switch-lever I has the horizontal shaft journaled on the base,and constructed with a crankp. Abar, I, connects the levers G, H, and I,so that as the lever I is moved its motion is communicatedsimultaneously to levers G H.

In operation, it will be seen that when the lever I is in position shownin Fig. 1 the rails of the switch-section are in line with the fixedrailsB B. Now, if it is desired to throw the train from rails c 0 ontorails D D, the lever I is moved over, as indicated indotted lines. Thisby means of lever H throws rails c cinto line with rails D D, and bymeans of l'ever G draws the adjacent ends of rails E F together andacross the rail B, as will be seen.

It is obvious that the moving or adjacent ends of the rails E F need notbe grooved, provided they are supported sufficiently high to slideentirely onto the rail B; but I prefer to groove or mortise them, asshown and before described, as thereby a neater and easier crossing isprovided.

It is also obvious that the means of adjusting the moving rails andswitch maybe varied without departing from the principles ofcrosse1a-im,and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

111 a railway-crossing, substantially as described and shown, theco1nbinatio11,with the unbroken main-line rail and the pivoted movablerails E F, of the protecting rails or sections H H, secured on the trackin position to register with the movable ends of the rails E F when thelatter are adjusted away from the fixed rail, substantially asdescribed, and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I aff x my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN F. PENROD.

\Vitnesses:

W. R. BOYERS, F. M. ALTER.

